The classic quote was perfectly realized on Sunday night as Argentina (pre-tournament favorites) and a young, emerging Germany side battled it out at the Maracana in Rio.

Despite some gold-edged chances to score from the Argentinians, the game went to extra-time having finished 0-0 in 90 minutes and was only decided by an absolute screamer from Mario Gotze to give Germany their first World Cup since the country reunited in 1990.

As for our World Cup bets, it was a time for us to reunite with our bankroll, and a healthy one it turned out to be.

Our initial gut reaction was to go for a draw in 90 minutes in the final but hearts overruled and we went for the Argentina win. However, we did pick up an easy 2.5 pts after backing Under 2.5 goals.

Where the game really hit us hard, however, was in Argentina not winning the tournament. We got 9/2 on Messi and pals taking down that trophy at the start of the World Cup and it would have added a sizeable chunk to our profits if they’d triumphed.

No matter – overall, we had a pretty good tournament, and if the fanciful punt on Chile at 50/1 scuppered any long-term accumulators, there was plenty of success in match bets.

Holland beating Spain in their first game, Thomas Muller hitting first goals, and the Hondurans picking up the first booking of every game; every week garnered some pretty nice little wins.

So, let’s take a walk down Memory Lane and recap the bets we took out from the moment the first ball was kicked in anger. Hopefully you joined us backing some of our picks and came out a winner too.

So, a late surge helped us to a profit of almost 25 points, which would have been double that had Argentina put away just one of their chances in the final. Overall, not a bad return for a tournament held every four years and with some surprise packages coming to the fore. Roll on 2018 and the FIFA World Cup in Russia, where we could well see this young, exciting German side do very well yet again.

Lessons learned? Don’t bet on England (ever), Belgium are a potential new force, Brazil aren’t, and never, ever, write off the Germans.